Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
KHARTOUM, Sudan – A joint African Union-United Nations patrol was ambushed on Friday while on patrol in Darfur. A total of 60 men were abducted. The patrol included police and military from UNAMID, the UN Mission in Darfur, and was headed to the Jebel Marra region where there have been recent clashes.
“Although the mission had received assurances by belligerents that the UNAMID patrol could carry out its task,” armed men ambushed the patrol and held them overnight, said officials. They were taken to a nearby settlement before being released on Saturday morning.
The attackers released the peacekeepers with their three armored personnel carriers but kept all other vehicles and equipment.
“It was then they found [out] two peacekeepers were unaccounted for,” said UNAMID Communications Chief Kemal Saiki. “We don’t know their whereabouts or how they came to be missing … Did they flee during the ambush trying to make their way back to base? We don’t know.”
The identity of the attackers is still unknown.
“The only thing we know for sure is that it happened in an area that the [Sudan Liberation Army] was claiming under its control. But that does not signify anything,” Saiki said. “We are putting all our efforts into trying to determine (the two peacekeepers’) whereabouts.”
The United Nations continues to call for peace in Darfur, calling on all parties not to disrupt ongoing peace efforts. The government and JEM (the Justice and Equality Movement) have already reached a “cessation of hostilities” agreement in an effort to help end the conflict.
“UNAMID strongly condemns this unprovoked attack on its peacekeepers who were carrying out an important security and humanitarian mission for the benefit of the people of Jebel Marra,” a UNAMID statement said.
At least 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million have been driven from their homes in the past seven years of fighting.
For more information, please see:
The Nation – Darfur Mission for Respected Thai Peacekeepers – 07 March 2010
AFP – Two Darfur Peacekeepers Missing After Abduction: UN – 06 March 2010
Reuters – Two Peacekeepers Missing After Darfur Ambush – 06 March 2010
UN News Centre – Darfur: Two Peacekeepers Missing After Ambush on UN-African Union Patrol – 06 March 2010
